After All
by sapphireswimming
Summary: And they should have seen it coming, after all.


**Wow so this is a busy month for the phandom! Phanniemay runs throughout the entire month of May and this is also Grey Ghost Week on tumblr. Ave Aria was doing a marvelous job of participating solo in that particular event but I couldn't just leave them hanging haha. Not when I love the interactions between Danny and Valerie so much. But I don't write them often, so this list of prompts is going to give me a gentle push in that direction.**

 **I've got ideas for all of the days, but don't know when I'll actually get around to writing and posting. Sooner rather than later, I hope. But for now, have the "Spring Joy" prompt, which is going to be the only really shippy one of the batch 'cause romance is the furthest thing from my strong suit, haha.**

 **Title from _So Be Damned_ by Laurence Fox because his cd really makes me think of Danny and Valerie's various relationship statuses.**

* * *

 **After All**

 _~ and you should have seen it coming after it all ~_

May 8, 2015

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Danny and Valerie sat up on the side of a sunny hill next to the Amity Park Observatory. At this time of day, it was impossible to see even the brightest stars, but the lookout still provided a stunning view of the town.

Their town.

They sat in silence, enjoying the cool breeze as they peered between the tree line to see the city blocks laid out in neat, tiny rows. The sun had dried up all the dew, leaving the grass cool and springy beneath their hands.

Next to Danny was a basket containing their picnic lunch while Valerie's hover board and assorted weaponry too big to retract into her suit sat piled by her side. Just in case something happened, but they weren't expecting any trouble.

There had been more than enough of that to go around the first time they'd dated, between various ghosts trying to play matchmaker or break them up, trying to provide distractions and sow discord.

They'd sabotaged themselves the most in the end, though, really. Danny had known about both of their double lives and wanted to make things work anyway, but Valerie had no clue that he was the ghost she'd been single-mindedly tracking ever since she'd gotten mysterious packages of equipment. And she was also under the strong impression that no one else in Amity Park knew she was actually the Red Huntress.

She'd unilaterally made the decision to end their relationship in order to protect Danny from getting involved with the ghosts and, yeah, he could have laughed about that one until he cried, but without explaining that she was actually skipping out on him in order to hunt down his ghost half, he really wasn't in a position to offer any convincing arguments to the contrary.

In her mind, she was protecting him, just as she was single handedly protecting the town and of course that had to come first when the two were in conflict. Which they wouldn't have been if their entire relationship hadn't been built on a series of lies but... it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Several years later, after a quick trip to Tucker's house to make sure that he didn't still harbor feelings for Valerie, Danny decided it was time to set the record straight and clear the air. Tucker thought he was nuts and Sam offered to pay for the funeral, but Danny had been determined to see it through, at least.

The encounter had resulted in surprisingly little shooting and he'd emerged no more dead than he had been going in. They'd hashed out some long misunderstandings and cleared the air a bit. It hadn't make things good between them, yet, but the foundation had been laid and the slate nearly wiped clean.

The following week, Valerie had called asking him out and now here they were: a proper couple on a real date, together at last with no secrets between them.

And every ghost in the Zone knew not to interrupt their coveted quiet time if they valued their after life.

So Danny scooted close enough to brush his fingertips against Valerie's hand, grinning at the blue sky when she looked over and he pretended he wasn't doing anything. A few moments later, Valerie was laying her head on Danny's shoulder and they both looked out across the town that they fought and bled for and would spend the rest of their lives defending.

But together, now. And, without spending half his time running away from Valerie, and now that she wasn't spending most of her energy trying to track him down, they were both finding the whole ghost hunting thing had become much easier. Pooling resources and patrolling together meant that their watches were thorough, effective, and gave them some time off to spend nestled together on the hill.

Danny hummed in contentment. Valerie shifted against his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck a little and he froze, scared of making her lay uncomfortably against his bony shoulder.

She huffed a laugh and Danny twisted his neck to look down at her. "What?" he asked, confused.

"Hmm?" she replied, playing down a smile.

"What?" he pressed.

"Oh, nothing," she said airily, twisting a few blades of grass around her finger.

He jiggled his shoulder slightly. "No, come on, what?"

Valerie lifted her head to look at him properly. "You're just a dork," she said fondly.

"Yeah?" he smiled, leaning in until their noses were nearly touching.

"Oh, yeah," she agreed absently, face splitting into a mischievous grin.

"Well, then…" he trailed off, eyes flicking back and forth, unable to decide if he wanted to look at her soft, parted lips or get lost in her deep, shining eyes.

Before he could choose, something blue wisped out of his mouth and Valerie instinctively jerked back with a gasp just as something beeped somewhere from the pile behind her.

A very familiar and extremely annoying voice shouted, "BEWARE!" before either of them had a chance to start looking around for the idiot that thought they could interrupt them without incurring the direst consequences.

Valerie rolled her eyes and Danny snorted when they realized that, of course, the only ghost irritating and dumb enough to break up their date was the Box Ghost. Without breaking eye contact, Valerie swept a gun off the ground and pointed it with pinpoint accuracy at the ghost while Danny raised a hand and powered up and ectoblast.

There was a small yip and the Box Ghost wisely decided to beat a hasty retreat, disappearing without another sound.

"Smart choice," Valerie said when they were alone again.

"I'll say," Danny agreed. "Because we were in the middle of something, weren't we?"

"Hmm, were we?" she asked with a winkle in her eye as she set the gun back down within arms reach.

"You know, I think we were," Danny said, trying not to laugh. "But what was it?" he pretended to think. "Oh yeah," he said, reaching forward to gently cradle her face in his hand and run a thumb along her cheek. "We were doing this…" he murmured as he closed his eyes and kissed her.

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 **For anyone else wanting to jump in on Grey (Gray? I never know the correct spelling ooops) Ghost week, it's being hosted by ispacey from May 3-9 (but late entries are definitely welcome, so don't freak out that the official end date is tomorrow, haha!) and the prompts are: spring joy, fantasy/lore AU, role reversal AU, college AU, crossover, Hunger Games AU, and dark vs. light.**

 **Interesting stuff here and this relationship can always use some more love, so! :'3**


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